Having just been edged out of the no. 2 burger chain spot by Wendy's, Burger King is busy testing new ways to boost revenues and grab market share. Among them is BK Delivers, a door-to-door delivery program being piloted in select markets in Florida; Maryland; Washington, D.C.; Texas and New York City.
It brings to the United States a service that the chain has already had success with in international markets such as Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Turkey.
Positioned as a convenience for customers and an alternative to ubiquitous pizza and Chinese food delivery, BK Delivers requires an $8 to $10 minimum order and includes a small service fee of around $2. Deliveries are offered to customers who order from within a 10-minute drive of a participating BK location. While most regular menu items are available for delivery, including fruit smoothies, a select few are excluded. These include fountain sodas, ICEE beverages, shakes, soft-service ice cream desserts, coffee and breakfast items that don't travel well.
BK has developed an online ordering website, www.bkdelivers.com, which makes it easy for guests to build and place their orders. In addition to regular sandwiches, sides, wraps salads and desserts, the site touts family- and group-friendly delivery deals such as Any Four Large Sandwich Combos, 40-Piece Chicken Nuggets and 2 Bottled Drinks, and 10 Cheeseburgers and 20 Chicken Nuggets.
To ensure foods arrive at proper temperatures and to maintain quality on hard-to deliver items such as French fries, BK utilizes proprietary high-tech thermal packaging and packs hot and cold foods separately. To help maintain crispness, fries are prepared on a special-order basis just before a delivery leaves the store.
Most participating units offer delivery from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Based on the success of initial markets, Burger King plans to continue to expand the BK Delivers service.